Showing posts with label DIY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DIY. Show all posts

October 11, 2013

Totally Oatally Awesome


I’ll tell you who’s running a racket: The people selling granola! I don’t know why took me so long to try making my own... maybe it was not enough time, or maybe it was because it didn’t seem worth the effort. But there is no effort. It was insanely easy and is insanely delicious. I have already eaten way too much of it, actually. It’s the best granola I’ve ever had, even better than the $10 kind!

My favorite kind is the $10 kind, which is what prompted me to finally give DIY a shot. That, and the fact that my apartment is freezing because we still have our window AC units in. In the northeast, summer stretched well into fall this year; then abruptly left us with a string of cold, rainy days. (You can tell it's cold from the light in the photo! But I don't have time to fix it.) Anyway, I was looking for a reason to turn the oven on and heat up the place, so I found a recipe for olive oil granola online and used the ingredient list from the bag of my favorite granola. The rest is magic.

September 17, 2012

Hey Good Lookin', Whatcha Got Cookin'?


I don’t really buy cookbooks anymore because I have copy of the world’s largest cookbook, it’s called THE INTERNET. But one weekend afternoon, my husband and I stopped at Café Pedlar to get a cup of coffee (I got a really gorgeous cappuccino) and while we were waiting I noticed the The Frankies Spuntino cookbook for sale. The last time I ate at Frankies Spuntino I had gnocchi so good I actually got tears in my eyes because it reminded me so much of my grandmom.

I bought the cookbook. Obviously.

July 30, 2012

What Are You Lookin’ At, Ombré?


You’ve probably seen the ombré nail polish trend in magazines, if you haven’t come across anyone who has bothered to do it in real life. It’s not that it’s that hard to do, as far as nail art goes, but collecting colors in a nice progression (finding, paying for, storing) has always seemed to me like more trouble than the trend was worth. Even buying one of the pre-assembled sets seems like kind of a waste. How often do you really want ombré nails? And then you end up with five nail polish colors that are practically the same.

May 10, 2012

Gelishious 2: I Try DIY

E.T. Phone Home

A few months ago, friend/reader Aline wrote a guest post about doing your own gel manicure. It was great, and her nails looked fantastic, but I kind of figured I would never do it myself. It seemed like a lot of work, I didn’t want to store the lamp, and I didn’t need gels frequently enough to deal with all that. But…

April 20, 2012

Guacamasqué


Generally, I would never waste a perfectly good avocado by doing anything other than eating it. But, I happened to have three ripe avocados on hand that were getting riper aaaand rrrriiiiperrrr and I figured I could spare one to try out a hair treatment I read about… ugh…somewhere on the internet. (I attempted to find it again, but it’s like finding a needle in 5 million haystacks.)

It’s funny that during the week I’m trying to write about things that are free or really cheap, I am using a notoriously expensive fruit, but still. It's pretty cheap as far as beauty products go.

So, what you do is take an avocado, an egg yolk, and a teaspoon of olive oil, and you mash it all up for approximately 100 years. You have to mash it really well, because otherwise you’re going to have chunks of avocado falling off your head while you’re wearing it. It would probably be a good idea to use a food processor or something to get it really smooth, but I didn’t feel like washing anything extra so I just mashed forever.

I'd rather be guacamole.

The thing I read advised you to section your hair into quarters, which I didn’t do at first, but I quickly realized it’s a good idea to do that because you really have to work this into your hair, and you might miss some spots if you’re not careful.

Also, even if you ARE careful, you shouldn't wear a good shirt while you’re doing this. I put on a robe that I didn’t really care about, and I’m glad, because it took a few hits.

After you work the avocado glop through your hair, you’re supposed to put your hair into a bun. I ended up with two buns, one in front, and one in back. For me, it was just easier to get some of the hair out of the way before I started coating the back section. Four buns would actually make a lot of sense too.

I have a lot of hair, even though it’s significantly shorter now, but this recipe made a lot of goop and I had a few tablespoons left. If your hair is short or thin, you could probably just make half a recipe and then eat than other half of the avocado on whole wheat toast with some kosher salt. (Or giant crystals of Maldon sea salt, if you’re fancy.)

In fact, you could eat it while you’re waiting, because you have to let the mask soak in for half an hour. If you had one of those disposable shower caps you stole from a hotel, it would probably be great to put that on. But if it’s buried somewhere in the cabinet under your sink, you’ll be fine without it as long as your buns are well secured. Always make sure your buns are well secured.

The mask gets a little bit hard/dried out in parts, but otherwise doesn’t change much. When it’s time to rinse, wait until you get into the shower to take out the bun or buns, it’s less risky. Plus, you can just wash the ponytail holders while you’re in there.

After you rinse out all the guacamasqué, shampoo and condition as usual. I let my hair air dry, which I tend to do these days.

Hours pass. Hair dries. Laundry gets did.

So, this definitely didn’t do anything for my frizz, but I guess it didn’t promise that. It’s only meant to be hydrating, which… ehhh. A little? My hair is softer maybe? It certainly didn’t work any miracles.
Next time, I’m making guacamole.

February 29, 2012

DIY: A-Salt Blackheads with Toothpaste (and Van Halen)



You guys. Someone just showed me this amazing video for blackhead removal using toothpaste and salt. I haven't actually tried the technique yet because I have makeup on and I'm going out to dinner, but I needed to share this right now. This video is amazing. I think my favorite part is "JUMP" in the background. But it also might be the image of the rose. I don't know, there are a lot of good parts.

Thanks Dandizette!

Update 3/2/12: I tried this after my shower yesterday, and it really does work! And the results last at least until the following day, my pores are still looking good. A word of warning: The "tingling" can be pretty intense when you do the scrub and rinse-off part, so be really careful not to get it near your eyes. I used Kosher Salt and Crest Complete, which, WOW. It burns! It fffrrrreeezzessss!

January 5, 2012

2012: DIY


Happy New Year! Are you all set with your resolutions? Did you already bail on them? How many Pizzalicous Pringles leftover from your New Year’s Day Hangover did you eat today? None? Then you’re already ahead of me. Go, You!

July 5, 2011

Imagine That!


Hey! Did you all have a good time celebrating your independence yesterday? Did you eat, drink, and set stuff on fire? MEEEE TOOOOO!

July 1, 2011

How to Make A Batch of Awesome


I’m going to close out this week of beach posts the same way I closed out my week of beach: with frozen watermelon margaritas.

June 1, 2011

There’s No Place Like The Internets


I recently learned about a website where you can "design" your own shoes and they will make them for you. YES! I KNOW. It’s called Milk & Honey. You can make pumps, flats, or sandals, and they say wedges and booties are coming soon. They’re not cheap, but they are not entirely unaffordable either. It depends on your budget, but mostly on how desperately you want the shoes in your head to be on your feet. The prices are based on how many bells and whistles (or really, bows and ruffles) you add, and the materials of course. They all seem to be over $200, and very quickly get to $300.

April 28, 2011

Sunshiney Smoothie





This Carrot Pineapple Smoothie is tied with the Apple Kale one for the title of My Favorite. Both recipes are from Real Simple Magazine, and I’ve made both smoothies many, many times since the recipes appeared in the February 2011 issue.

April 10, 2011

DIY Minx: Sally Hansen Naaaailed It!


I’ve been searching drugstores for Sally Hansen Salon Effects for a few months now, and I FINALLY found them at Ricky’s! The selection, however, was severely limited. I was sooooo close to buying the hilarious “Denim Jeans” to wear with my jeans, denim shirt, and jean jacket, but I ended up buying glittery “Frock Star” which looks almost exactly like what clowns wear when they go to the disco.

March 22, 2011

Sweet! DIY Sugar Body Scrub


Winter has been very long, and very cold, to the surprise of no one. Now that we have extra daylight, and are treated to the occasional warm day, it’s time to make some preparations for spring. We need to get ready to break free from our sweater cocoons, and I’d rather emerge a beautiful butterfly than a dusty old moth.

Let’s save our dollars for some spring clothes (and maybe a little makeup), and make our own body scrub to cast off the dry skin of winter. Like a snake! (Not at all like a snake.)

March 18, 2011

Art Club Nail Polish for DIY Awesome



Happy Friday! Let's get awesome.